Rev Pro wrapped up the Great British Tag League block matches on the final 229 show of the year.
Quick Results
Luke Jacobs pinned Mitch Waterman in 15:59 (***½)
Connor Mills defeated Joshua James via referee stoppage in 6:58 (**½)
Dani Luna pinned Mercedez Blaze & Kanji in 11:51 (***½)
Great British Tag League 2023 Block B: Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews pinned Danny Black & Maverick Mayhew in 14:42 (***)
JJ Gale pinned Sha Samuels in 9:33 (***¼)
Michael Oku & Cameron Khai submitted Mark Trew & Kieron Lacey in 11:24 (***½)
Great British Tag League 2023 Block A: Anthony Ogogo pinned Kid Lykos II & Kid Lykos in 9:22 (***)
Great British Tag League 2023 Block B: Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper pinned Brendan White & Danny Jones in 15:43 (***½)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com
We’re back at the 229 for the final time this year – and yeah, the audio needs work again. Andy Quildan’s back on commentary alongside Gio Nolastname…
Mitch Waterman vs. Luke Jacobs
This was Waterman’s second outing for Rev Pro – having debuted against Michael Oku in Portsmouth a week earlier…
A tentative opening spell sees Waterman and Jacobs exchanging wristlocks before a drop toe hold led to a reset. Waterman tries to bait Jacobs in, but his kick’s caught before Luke bulldozed him to the mat with a shoulder tackle. See-saw shoulder tackles follow as Jacobs again dumped the Aussie to the mat, before a slam and a back senton drew a two-count.
The pair head outside as Jacobs blistered Mitch with chops, before he chucked him into the wall… and followed up with a slam on the floor. Back inside, Waterman misses an overhead kick, but had more luck with a leaping Meteora off the middle rope. A back suplex gets Waterman a one-count as he pushed on, only for Jacobs to fire back with an elbow out of the corner as Waterman peppered him with strikes. More elbows follow, only for Luke to miss a running kick into the corner as he quickly found himself getting suplexed into the buckles for a two-count.
Waterman’s back elbow misses as Jacobs eventually hit back with a lofty German suplex. Clotheslines in the corner are next, only for Jacobs to eat that enziguiri… then snap back with a pop-up powerbomb. A folding powerbomb keeps Luke ahead, before Waterman ‘rana’d out of a Tiger Drive and began to pick up the pace.
A springboard cutter gets Waterman a near-fall… before Jacobs’ headbutt and rolling elbow had the Aussie on the back foot. Waterman’s able to sneak in with a Slingblade though, only to get waffled with a lariat… a Tiger Driver nearly wins it for Luke, before the pair headed onto the apron to trade blows again. Back-and-forth chops end with another headbutt from Luke, only for Waterman to drop him into the apron with a Slingblade.
Back inside, Jacobs countered a reverse ‘rana into an Electric Chair drop, but Waterman turned it back around… only to miss a corkscrew moonsault. Two huge lariats put Luke back in the driver’s seat, before a snap Fire Thunder Driver proved to be enough to get the win. This picked up at the end as Jacobs put his loss last month firmly behind him. ***½
Post-match, Jacobs vowed to beat Tomohiro Ishii at Crystal Palace in two weeks…
The scheduled match with Joshua James and Spike Trivet ended up not happening – thanks to Robbie X running out through the crowd, leaping over David Francisco to attack Spike. A LONG brawl saw Robbie bowl Trivet into the crowd, chuck chairs at him, and ultimately hit an X-Clamation onto a chair before they were eventually separated… but not before Robbie could challenge Spike to a streetfight at Uprising.
Joshua James was understandably pissed off at not being able to have his match with Spike… instead he got a new opponent, in the form of Connor Mills.
Joshua James vs. Connor Mills
Mills surprised James with a shotgun dropkick as the Cruiserweight champion got the jump…
A running boot takes James outside as Mills followed through with an Orihara moonsault, eventually returning James back to the ring, where a snapmare and a kick to the back kept the Contender down. Mills adds a dropkick for a one-count… only for James to POUNCE him almost out of his trainers.
James continues the turnaround with a spinebuster for a two-count, before he lariated away a rebound lariat… again for a near-fall. Mills manage to escape a chokeslam, but James just sits down on a sunset flip, then added a back elbow before Mills hit back with lariats. A rebound lariat connects ahead of a double stomp to the back… but James gets a shoulder up at two. From there, a series of running kicks pins James into the corner, leading to a hesitation dropkick that eventually forced the referee to wave this one off. **½
Post-match, Mills added another running kick to James, before taking verbal jabs at Leon Slater ahead of their match at Uprising.
Will Ospreay made a surprise appearance next, building up his match with Gabe Kidd at Uprising. After we got through the “Will’s Elite” chants and Micky Flanagan gags, he brought up how Kidd beat him up after Royal Quest 3… which in turn led to digs at how Ospreay reckoned Kidd wasn’t looking to be original, but just another name in the Bullet Club lineage.
After comparing Gabe Kidd to Wallace (so does that make Alex Coughlin Gromit?), Ospreay noted how Kidd couldn’t even beat Chase Owens… then brought up Gabe’s time in WCPW (deeper cuts), along with the time Kidd’s mum called the police to get him admitted to a psych ward. Your mileage will vary, but the end of the promo was uncomfortable and bordering “who am I meant to cheer for now?” territory.
Mercedez Blaze vs. Kanji vs. Dani Luna
Coming off the back of the tag match at last month’s 229 show, this three-way was for a shot at Alex Windsor’s title… and speaking of, Alex was out for commentary here.
Kanji’s kick wiped out Luna early on, as the match started with Kanji taking it to Blaze… but Blaze was able to turn it around in a hurry with running knees to the back. A second one misses as Luna snuck in to capitalise with an Exploder out of the corner, before Blaze got dragged outside… only for her to hurriedly throw Luna into the crowd.
Back inside, Kanji puts the boots to Blaze for a spell, but Mercedez strikes back with forearms as Kanji was cornered. Luna’s back for revenge, but Blaze just dumps her right back outside before a running flip neckbreaker dropped Kanji for a two-count. Another attempt to get back in by Luna is quickly snuffed out by Kanji, who then refocused on Blaze with chops between the ropes.
Luna’s able to break up a pin by ragdolling Kanji with a German suplex, while a pair of fallaway slams dealt with both opponents. Kanji’s folded up for a powerbomb that nearly wins it before all three women began to trade strikes again. Blaze breaks up a pin before chucking Kanji into the corner… before Luna wiped through Blaze with a clothesline out of another corner.
An elevated German suplex from the outside in nearly wrecked Kanji… but from the kick-out she pulled Luna into a triangle armbar. Luna powerbombs her way free, but Blaze’s running knees stopped her from capitalising further. We resume with Kanji getting bounced around, but she’s able to break free and hit a dive to Blaze and Luna on the outside, before Safire Reed snuck up behind her and threw Kanji into the merch table.
Kanji’s out of the picture… and the match is quickly put to bed back inside as a Luna Landing gets Dani the win – and a rematch with Alex Windsor in two weeks. This one was all-action, and had the crowd invested from the off – more like this, please! ***½
Great British Tag League 2023 Block B: CPF (Danny Black & Maverick Mayhew) vs. Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
CPF were already eliminated from contention, but Subculture needed a win to have a shot of forcing a tie atop the group…
We started with Andrews grounding Mayhew with a wristlock, snapping at the fingers before Mayhew’s dropkick got him free. A tijeras keeps Andrews down before a misdirection crossbody nearly caused the upset. There’s a quick turnaround from Subculture, before CPF returned the favour as Black came in to score a two-count off of a backslide.
A wheelbarrow roll-up keeps Webster on the back foot, as Black took him outside with a dropkick… Andrews met a similar fate as the crowd scattered with stereo CPF moonsaults to opposite sides. Back inside, Mayhew’s overwhelmed with a pair of standing moonsaults from Subculture as things turned around, while a back suplex from Andrews kept the tag champions ahead.
Webster takes Mayhew outside for a swift plancha, before Andrews’ Northern lights suplex back inside added another two-count. A Curt Hennig-esque neck flip from Webster adds a two-count on Mayhew, before Mayhew escaped and tagged in Danny Black. Danny’s beating Andrews to the punch ahead of a flip half-and-half suplex… then followed up with a lowpe-stunner to Webster on the floor.
Back in, a running Koppo kick crashes into Andrews in the corner ahead of a pumphandle Ki Krusher for a near-fall. Andrews looked to jam his leg on an O’Connor roll as Webster tagged in… CPF take advantage as Mayhew’s over-the-knee brainbuster almost snuck out the win.
Subculture combine on Black as Webster’s ushigoroshi and a stacked-up pin drew a two-count. Andrews rolled outside after that, and eventually got carried to the back… leaving Webster alone as CPF looked to get the upset. A senton bomb-assisted neckbreaker nearly does it, before Webster’s running knees sent the CPF-spittle flying. Literally.
A Falcon arrow nearly gets Webster the win, but Black breaks up the cover before an Eton Rifles almost got Webster the win… a crushing Shadows Over Malice follows on Black, and that’s enough for Subculture to finish on six points – and now they need to hope for the Greedy Souls to lose in the main event to force a three-way tie. ***
During the interval we’re told that Ricky Knight Jr. had to miss the show for reasons that’d be revealed later… therefore we’re getting Lykos Gym against Anthony Ogogo in a winner-take-all match in block A.
JJ Gale vs. Sha Samuels
Holy unadvertised match, Batman!
Sha takes Gale into the corner to start, as the veteran looked to frustrate JJ in the early going. A shoulder tackle’s quickly bounced up from though, before Gale slapped Sha… and wiped him out with a huge crossbody. A second springboard’s just swatted away by Sha, who then began to work over Gale’s left arm.
Gale’s taken down with an armbar, but he’s able to break free and hit back with a dropkick, taking Sha outside for a tope into the crowd. A running forearm from Sha gets him back in it, as did some elbow drops, before he kept Gale grounded with a chinlock.
A uranage backbreaker gave Gale an ugly landing en route to a near-fall, but an East End Destroyer’s countered with a back body drop. Gale takes advantage with a spinning heel kick off the ropes, only for a follow-up springboard cutter to be countered into a big ol’ spinebuster.
A missed moonsault from Sha looked to put paid to that, but a snap Michinoku driver kept him on top for a while longer, before the East End Destroyer was again thrown aside. Gale’s able to respond with a Gory bomb knee, before a springboard cutter ended up the ropes, with Sha keeping the match alive… only for a see-sawing small package to end with JJ Gale snatching the win. This was a fantastic sprint of a match, with Gale picking up another big scalp. ***¼
Post-match, Gale took the mic and called out Zack Sabre Jr. for Uprising – hey, I’d thought they’d forgotten about JJ beating Kosei Fujita and getting that Sabre match!
Kieron Lacey & Mark Trew vs. Cameron Khai & Michael Oku
Obviously not a part of the Great British Tag League – Trew and Lacey were looking to get a major scalp after they’d beaten the Billingham Bulldogs last week. We’ve also got a video interruption from Zack Gibson, whose mocking tone was aimed at Oku… and led to a jump start from Trew and Lacey.
Khai’s isolated before the bell… but Oku’s able to make the save as Trew and Lacey got sent outside for stereo topes into the crowd… before Cameron Khai tossed Mark Trew’s beanie up onto a ledge in the 229. It’s probably still there now…
The match got going finally with Lacey getting bounced around, but Trew sprinted around ringside to pull Oku off the apron, and start a turnaround as Khai again found himself isolated. The Gravedigger double-team gets Trew a two-count, before Lacey came in and bit Khai in the corner.
Trew’s back to keep Khai grounded, then to choke on Khai in the corner as Lacey baited Oku into distracting the ref. A double-team suplex throws Khai across the ring, before Trew again got in Oku’s face. Trew ends up losing focus though, as Oku’s able to tag in and clear house with an enziguiri/swinging DDT combo… before a springboard moonsault crushed Lacey for a near-fall.
Khai’s back in as a dropkick-assisted Croyt’s Wrath earned a two-count on Lacey… Trew breaks it up, and gets caught with an over-the-knee brainbuster for good measure. Please, someone brand that move! Trew rolls outside, as Oku tagged in… and followed Trew with a Fosbury flop for good measure.
Lacey takes advantage of Oku playing to the crowd, posting him before throwing Oku back inside as Trew and Lacey took over once more. A misdirection knee from Oku stopped that, only for Trew’s flying headbutt off the top – like a flying Ralph Wiggum – took Oku down to spark a Parade of Moves.
Andy nearly swears as Trew’s ropewalk moonsault wiped out himself and Khai on the floor.. Trew shrugs it off as the Black Flag suplex/powerbomb nearly beat the champion. The pace quickens as a Trew spear dumped Oku ahead of a second crack at the Black Flag… this time a brainbuster-like variation that almost got the win, ahead of a teased Avalanche Black Flag.
That’s countered though as Oku instead scored an Ace’s High to Lacey… Trew’s spiked with a Pingshot cutter from a returning Khai, before Lacey was forced to tag on a monsterous half crab. For an unadvertised outing, this one delivered and then some as this one just clicked… and we’re getting a rematch of sorts this weekend with Oku and Trew in Southampton. ***½
Great British Tag League 2023 Block A: Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II) vs. Anthony Ogogo
Going behind the curtain a little, it’s pretty clear the journey here wasn’t planned, even if the destination remained unchanged. First up, Zak Knight dropped out of the tournament after he’d relocated to the US… so Anthony Ogogo was drafted in as a replacement. Except RKJ being called elsewhere meant that this “winner takes all” block match was a handicap match… featuring the debut of the mask-less Kid Lykos in Rev Pro.
In the build up to the match, the Lykii were trying their hand at boxing… but it’s a regular lock-up that got us going, with Ogogo hiptossing Lykos in the opening stages. A drop toe hold gave Lykos an opening, as did a dropkick, only for a brainbuster attempt to be suplexed away by the Olympian.
Elbows take Lykos into the corner from there, while a kick dropped the unmasked wolf. A slam and a leg drop nearly ends this one in a hurry, prompting Lykos to beg off. We’ve a cheapshot on a handshake from Lykos, but Ogogo just hauls him with release German suplexes in response, with Lykos II accidentally tagging in as he brushed a flying Lykos in the corner.
Lykos II tried to stick and run against Ogogo, and had some success, landing a handspring Shiranui before a satellite DDT was caught. An inside cradle nearly nicked it for Lykos II, who then added that satellite DDT for a near-fall, before Ogogo caught a crossbody and turned it into a swift roll-through fallaway slam for a two-count.
An Angle Slam’s countered into a sunset flip from Lykos II, before Lykos broke up a cover from the Angle Slam. He’s chucked outside for that, but returned to break up a Tower of London attempt, before Ogogo had to deal with some double-teams. Ogogo gets the knees up to block an X-Plex from Lykos to Lykos II… before he punched out the original Lykos. From there, Lykos II’s slingshotted into the ring for a Tower of London… and that’s all she wrote. Perhaps a little too squashy at the end given Lykos Gym’s stature, but they made the best of a bad situation here. ***
Great British Tag League 2023 Block B: Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper)
A Sunshine Machine win here would force a three-way tie in the block – while any other result would put the Greedy Souls through to an Uprising final with Ogogo and RKJ. Maybe Brendan needed to re-read the live league table, as he thought they were already on nine points… although my prescription wouldn’t have helped!
Sunshine Machine were out with the GWF tag titles – having won them in Berlin the prior month… and they jumped the Greedy Souls as commentary mused over the Welsh lads’ prior wins over them. When the bell went, Danny Jones was on the defensive, eating dropkicks from TK before running front kicks and a neckbreaker earned Mambo an early two-count.
Mambo took to the skies with a delayed springboard crossbody to Danny Jones into the crowd, before TK returned to help with the Combo Meal – reverse DDT/elbow drop – for a near-fall. I’m being trolled by some of these move names, aren’t I?
Brendan White tries to get involved, but he’s kicked away by TK before he returned to the ring and took down Cooper with a powerslam. Some wrist tape’s used to choke away on TK, before Jones returned to land a side suplex. White’s back for a pair of back sentons, before he began to antagonise Mambo some more – allowing for some double-teaming behind the ref’s back.
Jones is back to maul TK, adding some crossface punches and an Arabian clutch for good measure. The Greedy Souls kept control as a sidewalk slam gets Brendan a near-fall, before TK began to fight out of the Souls’ corner, knocking Brendan to his knees before a Samoan drop wiped out Jones. TK’s able to hit a leaping Flatliner to take out Brendan before making that tag out to Mambo, who ran wild on Brendan with slams and chops.
A Blockbuster off the top takes White down for a near-fall, while a Reef Break out of the corner garnered a similar result. TK’s back for a German Suplex Turbo Charged By The Power of Friendship, forcing Jones to break up the pin. Mambo and Jones are taken outside, allowing White to pick up a near-fall from a backbreaker on TK, while more double-teaming almost got the Greedy Souls another win.
The Hospital Pass slingshot Bossman slam’s next for a near-fall, before another Mambo Reef Break turned things back around. A big splash and a shooting star press gets TK a near-fall – with Danny Jones having pulled out the referee to keep the match alive – before Jones dealt with Mambo by suplexing him on the floor. With the ref’s attention elsewhere, Brendan low blows TK, then hit a Bossman Slam… but it’s still not enough, prompting Jones to tag in with one of the GWF tag titles in hand. That distracts the ref as White cracked TK with the other belt, but still TK kicked out as the Greedy Souls continued to push on… only for a Soul Destroyer to be broken up as TK came back with a scissor kick.
Sunshine Machine’s attempt at a Designated Driver stalls as Brendan White just CHUCKED Mambo into the corner to knock TK off the top… only for Mambo to snatch the win seconds later with a roll-up! ***½
Post-match, Brendan grabbed the mic and declared that the three-way tie wasn’t really a thing, because he thought they’d gotten double points for beating Subculture earlier in the tournament. Mocking Mark Andrews’ injury led to Flash Morgan Webster and Dani Luna charging out as the three tied teams brawled around the 229, before Brendan’s big mouth led to him taking aim at Anthony Ogogo… who duly appeared and punched him out. The brawl among the potential finalists closed out the show… before Ogogo revealed that he was flying solo tonight because Ricky Knight Jr. had to rush to hospital for the birth of his daughter. All’s well that ends well, eh?
On paper, this show could have been so much worse. Having to debut Anthony Ogogo at such short notice (and then having him in a handicap match for reasons beyond anyone’s control… barely an hour after another tag league match ended as a handicap match due to injury. Still, Rev Pro were able to pull it out of the bag and continue their build to Uprising later this month.